09-02-2013, 12:11 PM
CHOCOLATE PROJECT
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Fair Trade chocolate fundraising means:
• Ensuring cocoa farmers are paid a fair price for their cocoa
Fundraising with Fair Trade chocolate means that the farmers are guaranteed a fair price
for the cocoa that goes into your chocolate bars. No exploitative child labor is allowed and
the cocoa farmers can afford to send their children to school. A Fair Trade premium is
paid to the cocoa cooperative to fund social projects, like education and health programs,
in their own communities.
• Learning about Fair Trade and how it reflects Catholic Social Teaching
Our Bishops remind us in Economic Justice for All that, “Consumers are moral agents
in economic life, by our choices… we enhance or diminish economic opportunity,
community life, and social justice.” A Fair Trade chocolate fundraiser creates
opportunities to respond to this call. CRS Fair Trade offers educational resources for your
group to learn more about the link between Fair Trade and Catholic social teaching.
• Raising funds while supporting the mission of Fair Trade companies
The CRS Fair Trade program partners with fully committed Fair Trade organizations to
bring you Raise Money Right. Our partners, Equal Exchange and SERRV, are working hard
to create a just economic trading system and to provide your community with practical
kits to organize your fundraiser. Also, with each Raise Money Right fundraiser, Equal
Exchange and SERRV make a donation to the CRS Fair Trade Fund. These funds are
recycled into grants that expand the Fair Trade movement in the U.S. and overseas.
• Enjoying delicious Fair Trade chocolate!
Fair Trade chocolate not only does good, it tastes good. What’s not to enjoy about highquality
Fair Trade chocolate that makes life sweeter for cocoa farmers around
the world?!
Closing Discussion
1. Tell students that Catholic Relief Services, the international
humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the U.S.,
works in more than 100 countries on projects that help those
living in poverty meet their basic needs
and respect their human dignity.
2. Buying Fair Trade products, like
chocolate, is one way people in the
U.S. can act in ways that respect others
human dignity.
3. Invite students to give some examples
of how they can act in ways that respect
the dignity of others
Creating Opportunities for
Economically Disadvantaged
Producers
The Fair Trade system supports marginalized small
producers, whether these are independent family
businesses, or grouped in associations or cooperatives.
By working together, cooperatives and
associations provide cultural, social and economic
benefits to entire communities. Profits are often
distributed more equally, and a portion of these profits
is reinvested in community projects, such as health
clinics, schools and literacy training. Farmers also
develop long-term relationships with businesses in
the North, which provides economic stability for the
community.
Dignity of Work and Rights
of Workers
The ability to work to earn a living is a right of all people. All
workers have the right to a fair wage, to organize themselves,
and to work in good conditions.
1. Read the Catholic social teaching principle Dignity of Work
and Rights of Workers.
2. Ask students to compare the economies in their local
community, the United States, to the Dominican Republic.
Statistics for the United States and the Dominican Republic
can be found in the Background Information section.
3. If time allows, encourage students to research unemployment
rates, population below the poverty line, and other economic
data in their own community.
4. Invite students to discuss in groups whether they feel the
economy is serving all people by providing access to fair and
safe work. As participants in the economy, what do they feel
their rights are? Discuss as a class what actions can be taken to
help the economy serve more people?